


The Great Hair-Raising Incident

by goldenwanderer



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, F/M, Gen, Humor, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-28
Updated: 2013-05-28
Packaged: 2017-12-13 06:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/821280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenwanderer/pseuds/goldenwanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Feeling bored, Sirius tries to play a prank using a Hair-Raising Potion. But something goes wrong, and Remus and Tonks are there to help... sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Hair-Raising Incident

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written in October, 2007, for a challenge at the LJ community, MetamorFic_Moon. I took some liberties with the effects of the Hair-Raising Potion (that is, I completely made up what it does) for the sake of this story.

It all began one afternoon when Sirius Black had nothing to do.

He had already done everything on his daily to-do list: give Kreacher a good kick, give Buckbeak some food and water, comb his hair, pick up any leftover dishes from the night before, and give Kreacher another kick, just for good measure.

There was going to be an Order meeting that night. Aside from that, there was nothing for Sirius Black to do.

“Moony! For Merlin’s sake, Moony! Where the bloody hell are you?”

There was no answer. Sirius wasn’t surprised.

“Come on, Moony! Where are you, mate?”

Finally, a voice from the upper floors floated down to the ground level.

“I’m in the library, Sirius.”

As soon as he heard Remus’s voice, he began moving quickly down the hall. He climbed the stairs three steps at a time, arriving at the second floor in only a few seconds. He hurried down the hallway to the old Black family library.

The door was wide open. Inside, Remus was sitting in an old armchair, holding an old, dusty book. He did not look up when Sirius entered. His eyes were fixed on the pages of the book. It was a look that Sirius knew far too well.

He came closer and peered at the book, trying to decipher the title. “ _Magical Potions: A Wizard’s Guide to Making Potions That Can Actually Be Used_ ,” he read out loud to himself. A look of surprise covered his face. It wasn’t unlike Moony to be reading, but it was quite unlike him to be reading anything to do with potion-making – everyone knew that Moony was abysmal at it.

“What are you reading that for?” Sirius demanded, feeling very curious.

Remus did not look up at him. “I’m doing some research,” he said simply.

This did not suffice for Sirius. “For what? You can’t be thinking of making a potion. You might hurt someone.”

At these words, Remus tore his eyes from the page and glared at Sirius. “ _I_ won’t be making any potions, Sirius,” he said coldly. “If you must know, Bill Weasley asked me to do some research for him. He’s got a lot of work to do, and thought I might be able to find something worthwhile in the Noble and Most Ancient Library of Black.”

“And what does Bill Weasley want with a potions book?”

“He wants to know about the Hair-Raising potion,” said Remus. His eyes returned to the book and he began to read again.

Sirius, however, was not finished with the conversation. “What’s a Hair-Raising potion?” he asked. “And, more importantly, why does Bill need one?”

“As for the latter, I can’t say,” said Remus, not looking up from his book. “He wouldn’t tell me directly, but I suspect that it has something to do with the comment he made last week about how much Miss Delacour likes his hair long. He has also often mentioned his mother’s deep desire to cut his hair short.”

Sirius laughed as he thought of the many times he had overheard Molly telling Bill that he really needed a trim. He laughed even harder when he thought of good little Bill Weasley, former Head Boy, sneaking behind his mother’s back to ask for a way to undo any damage that she might inflict, and that he was getting Moony, of all people, to help him.

“And, as for the former question,” continued Remus over the sound of Sirius’s laughter, “I am currently searching for that information.” His fingers were now moving through the pages with his eyes. He flipped several pages, and then several pages more. Sirius continued to chuckle to himself, still thinking of what Molly might say if she found out.

“Ah, here it is,” said Remus, stopping on a page suddenly. He cleared his throat and began to read.

> **The Hair-Raising Potion**
> 
> _When faced with the agony of not having your hair the proper length, there is no replacement for the simple Hair-Raising potion. Using different amounts of the proper ingredients, one sip of this potion can give you whatever length of hair you desire. The Hair-Raising potion can be used to add or subtract length, making it also useful for incidents involving fur or undesired hair._
> 
> _The Hair-Raising potion is simple to make and easy to drink. Closely resembling pumpkin juice, it is one of the most delicious potions to consume. In addition, it can be used for a myriad of different purposes, whether you want to add an inch of tresses or desire to test a short-but-sweet style._
> 
> _After taking the potion, the change will be completed in approximately eight to ten hours. In the event of severe cases involving fur or other types of undesirable hair, the potion can take days, if not weeks, to work completely._

When he had finished, Remus looked up from the book and turned to look at Sirius. They both stared at each other for a minute, unable to say anything.

“That’s _brilliant_ ,” Sirius whispered excitedly. “That’s bloody brilliant.”

“I’m glad you think so, Sirius,” said Remus, ignoring the tone of Sirius’s voice. He glanced down at the book, as if to mark the page number in his head, and then he set the open book down beside him on the table. “Do you happen to know what time it is, Sirius?”

“Er – probably around one o’clock or so,” said Sirius, shrugging his shoulders. “Why?” As he spoke, Remus got up suddenly and began to walk out of the room. “Where are you going, Moony?”

“I promised to meet Tonks at 1:30,” said Remus quickly. “I don’t want to be late.” And without another word, he had disappeared out of the room. Sirius could hear his footsteps as he hurried down the stairs, through the hall, and out the front door.

“Bloke’s in a hurry,” Sirius muttered to himself. He turned to go, too.

But as he got to the door, an idea suddenly struck him. He spun around slowly and looked at the book lying open on the table. He approached it silently and looked down at the page. He read it again to himself.

Suddenly, an evil smile came over his face. He wasn’t going to have nothing to do anymore.

* * *

All right, so it wasn’t very much of a romantic spot. But, it served the purpose well enough. Or, at least, that was what Tonks thought.

She was sitting on a small patch of grass in an ordinary Muggle park, surrounded by dozens of crazy young children and their frustrated mothers. She had already spread out a blanket and set out the small amount of food that she had brought with her. She had promised Remus that she would provide everything, but it wasn’t much at all, really.

Tonks had to admit, she was surprised that Remus was the one running late today. Usually, that role belonged to her. Try as she might, she had a nasty habit of turning up late to things, especially things like dates. But today, she had gotten here on time, and Remus still hadn’t shown up yet.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted. “Sorry I’m late, Tonks,” said a voice, which belonged to a very out-of-breath and tired-looking Remus Lupin.

“That’s all right,” she laughed. “Wotcher, Remus.”

“Hello, Tonks,” he breathed. He stopped, trying to catch his breath and examine her picnic display all at once. “This looks lovely, Nymphadora.”

“Thanks, Remus,” she said. “But call me that again, and it won’t be lovely anymore.”

He smiled at her, and she knew that he had been expecting something like that. “So, what kept you?” she asked. “I mean, I’m usually the one running late.”

“I was doing a favor for Bill Weasley,” said Remus. “He asked me to look up something for him. I suppose that I lost track of the time while I was browsing through the library.”

“You would,” she said, smiling. “But it’s no big deal, really. I don’t mind waiting.”

“I know you don’t,” said Remus. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She returned the favor.

“And that’s one of the things I love about you,” she said. Remus smiled.

Neither one of them seemed to remember that, traditionally, food consumption takes place at a picnic.

* * *

“No, really Molly, I’ll pour the drinks. You’ve got so much else to do. Let me handle this one.”

Sirius knew that Molly Weasley would be reluctant to let him help with anything, but he had to try. If he was going to do this, he needed to have access to the drinks before they made it to the table.

“I can do it, Sirius,” Molly tried to argue, but Sirius was persistent.

“Just go and sit down, Molly,” he told her. “I’ll take care of it. How hard can it be? It’s just a bit of pumpkin juice.”

“Well, all right,” said Molly, at last. “Thank you, Sirius. It’s very kind of you.”

“It isn’t a problem at all,” said Sirius. And truthfully, it wasn’t. He smiled politely at her while trying to mask his delight at what he was about to do. “Now, go on, I think I hear someone at the door.”

A faint crashing noise came down from the upstairs front hallway. “Oh, Tonks,” said Molly, exasperated, and she hurried out of the kitchen, through the basement, and up the stairs.

Sirius waited until he heard the sound of Molly’s voice yelling at Tonks before he moved. Then, quickly, he began to pour pumpkin juice into a set of mugs. Most of the Order would be there tonight, so there were quite a few mugs to fill. Only now did he fully appreciate the simple tasks that Molly did for them every week; he had already figured out that he would need an exceptionally good levitation charm to successfully deliver these to all the right people.

When he had finished pouring the pumpkin juice into each of the mugs, he opened a hidden cupboard and pulled out an old, decrepit jug, which cleverly hid the potion that he had made earlier that day. He set it down on the counter and looked at the mugs. Once he had decided which to give to Snape, he picked up the old jug and poured a tiny bit of potion into it. Immediately, the potion mixed with the identical-looking pumpkin juice. Smiling shrewdly, Sirius levitated the entire set of mugs into the air, taking special care to keep track of Snape’s.

As he followed the mugs out of the kitchen, Sirius could hear voices echoing down from the upstairs hallway. Carefully, he continued to levitate the mugs up the stairs. When he reached the top, he turned to the right and headed for the room where all the other Order members were located. Before he entered, he paused to let himself smile wickedly, and then, he levitated the cups in through the door to the lamp-lit room on the other side.

* * *

“Thank you so much, Remus,” whispered Bill. The Order meeting had concluded less than half an hour ago, and Molly was in the kitchen, finishing dinner. Remus had just passed along the information that he had gathered about the Hair-Raising potion.

“You’re welcome, Bill,” said Remus. “It was no trouble.”

“That’s good,” said Bill. “Though, if Mum had found out, you’d have been in more trouble than you could imagine. You’ve no idea what it’s like when Mum’s really angry.”

“And I don’t intend to find out, if I can help it,” said Remus. He meant it, too. He had seen Molly angry a few times before, primarily at Sirius, and it had not been a pretty scene. He certainly did not want to invoke her wrath in his direction.

Bill laughed at this. “You’re a wise man, Remus,” he said, patting Remus on the shoulder. “I wish I could avoid Mum when’s she angry, but somehow, I can’t. It’s worse than all those curses I broke back in Egypt.”

“I can imagine,” said Remus. “Why don’t we keep this between us, then?”

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all night,” said Bill. “Much better than Dung’s recruitment ideas, anyway.”

“All right, dinner is served!” Molly Weasley’s voice cut through the din of chatter as the food floated past her to land on the table. Immediately, the conversations around the table ended as people rushed to get into their seats.

“This looks delicious, Molly,” remarked Sirius, who lived for the meals she cooked for them each week.

“It sure does,” said Tonks. Remus noticed that her hair was the exact same shade of pink that it had been earlier that afternoon.

“Well, eat up,” said Molly, her cheeks turning very light pink. “You all need your energy.” She quickly began to scoop food onto Bill’s plate.

“Mum, we can serve ourselves,” said Bill, taking the plate from her.

“Oh, right,” said Molly. She quickly sat down beside Arthur and looked down at the table.

No one spoke for a moment. Remus felt very sorry for Molly at that moment.

But, it wasn’t for long.

“So, Moony, how was your date with Tonks today?” asked Sirius, clearly trying to change the subject.

It felt as though everyone at the table had suddenly turned to look at him. Fortunately, Remus didn’t often blush, or he would have right then.

“Er – it was – it was fine, Padfoot,” said Remus. “It went well, didn’t it, Tonks?”

“Yeah, we just went on a picnic,” said Tonks. Remus looked over at her. She was shoving food into her mouth, and seemed unfazed by Sirius’s question.

“Oh, that sounds lovely,” said Molly, looking a little less tense now that the subject had moved away from her.

“It was,” said Tonks. “Though, the food wasn’t quite as good as this, Molly.”

“It is delicious, Molly,” said Kingsley. “You’ve done as excellent job, as always.”

The other people at the table nodded in agreement. Molly blushed slightly and went back to eating her food.

For the remainder of the night, the topic did not come back to Remus’s date with Tonks, nor did it return to Molly’s cooking. In fact, Remus hardly said a word during the rest of dinner. But, he kept looking over at Tonks, who wore her usual bright smile that he had come to love.

Finally, after dinner was over, Remus and Sirius said good-bye to all of the other Order members, who were going home for the night. Everyone, that is, except for Tonks, who had elected to stay overnight at Grimmauld Place. As soon as everyone else had gone, the three friends said good-night to each other, and then they went off to bed. Remus felt especially tired, and he fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Tonks woke up the next morning feeling slightly strange. She didn’t know what it was at first. But, as soon as she was able to get her thoughts in order, she recognized the feeling that she got whenever she lost a morph.

She stretched her arms out and yawned as she walked over to the mirror. Then she opened her eyes and looked at herself. To her surprise, she had no hair. After taking a look at herself for a moment, she let out a little laugh. Her hair had changed in the night before (though it didn’t happen often), but she had never lost her hair completely. She scrunched up her eyes, and a moment later, she had a whole head of light pink hair.

But the strangest part of the morning was not waking up without any hair. It was walking downstairs to the kitchen and finding Sirius and Remus sitting at the table –

\- with no hair.

Tonks stopped moving as soon as she saw the two men at the table. Sirius’s expression was one of confusion and guilt, while Remus just looked angry.

“What’s going on?” she asked. The two men turned to look at her, or, to be more exact, they looked at her hair.

“Ask this bloke,” said Remus coldly, nodding his head in Sirius’s direction. “He’s the one who’s done it.”

“I did not,” said Sirius. “I already told you, Moony, I have no idea how this happened.”

“And I already told _you_ , Padfoot, I don’t believe you.”

“What’s going on, Sirius?” repeated Tonks, breaking into their conversation.

“All right, all right,” said Sirius, throwing his hands up in the air. “Yesterday, Moony here was collecting information for Bill about a Hair-Raising potion.”

“What’s a Hair-Raising potion?”

“It grows hair,” said Sirius.

“Or removes it,” added Remus.

“Yes, or removes it,” said Sirius. “Anyway, the point is, I thought it would be funny to play a joke on Snivellus.”

“Of course,” said Remus, exasperated. “A joke on Snape – why didn’t I think of it before?”

“I didn’t want to get rid of his hair, though,” said Sirius, as though Remus hadn’t spoken. “I must’ve messed up the potion – I only wanted him to have extra hair, that’s all.”

For a moment, Tonks tried to picture Snape with extra-long hair. Then, the image of Snape without hair popped into her head. She tried to stifle a laugh, but she couldn’t.

“You see? It’s funny,” said Sirius. “Or it would’ve been.”

“Somehow, I doubt it,” said Remus. “Still, that doesn’t explain this.” He pointed to his own bald head.

“I can’t explain that,” said Sirius. “I don’t know how it happened. I mean, why would I give myself extra hair?”

They all paused for a moment. Tonks took a moment to look at the two men more closely. Both of them certainly looked much different without their hair. She was sure that Sirius had not had hair this short in many years. Though, Remus almost looked younger without any hair. _But_ I like his hair, she thought, wishing that he had it back.

“Well, now I think I know why I woke up without hair this morning,” she said, trying to relieve some of the tension.

Remus and Sirius looked up at her in surprise. “You didn’t have hair, either?” asked Sirius. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” said Tonks. Without thinking about it, she reached her hand up to touch her hair. It was still there. “Yeah, I woke up without any. Didn’t know anything was wrong until I came down here, actually.”

Sirius looked from Tonks to Remus, who was glaring at him with even more anger now. “So, does that mean…?”

“Yes,” said Remus shortly. “You and I and Snape weren’t the only ones affected by your little prank.”

“But, how? I swear, I only put potion in Snape’s mug. I was very careful.”

They all paused for a few moments. Tonks took the time to sit down next to Remus, while the two men thought through all the possibilities. She knew that somehow, she had drunk the potion, too, or she wouldn’t have lost her hair. But, if Sirius had been so careful, how had they gotten affected?

“I don’t know what happened,” said Sirius, at last. “I remember asking Molly if I could help her with the drinks, and then she left, and I poured the pumpkin juice.” He counted off the things that he had done on his fingers as he spoke. “Then I pulled out the jug that had the potion, and I put some in that old mug with the cracked handle, and levitated all the mugs in the air. I took them upstairs and served the juice to everyone at the table, being careful not to lose track of Snape’s. I did his last.” Sirius looked up from his fingers. “I don’t understand what could’ve gone wrong.”

Tonks looked from Sirius to Remus and back again. She quickly ran through all the steps that he had taken in her head again. Using the deductive skills that she had learned during Auror training, she tried to spot any gaps in the story where something could have gone wrong. After running through the story a few times, she stumbled upon an idea.

“Sirius, what did you do with the jug when you finished with it? You know, the one that had the potion in it?”

“I – I don’t know,” admitted Sirius, as though he had just remembered something he needed to do. “I must’ve forgotten about it in all the excitement.”

This was something, but it didn’t solve anything. Tonks guessed that Sirius had left the jug on the counter. But that didn’t explain how it had gotten into everyone’s drink. After all, every good witch or wizard knew never to pour an unfamiliar-looking potion into a set of drinks.

“You left it on the counter?” said Remus quietly. “ _Why_ , in Merlin’s name, would you do that?” He began to speak more loudly and more furiously.

“What’s so bad about leaving it on the counter?” asked Tonks. “Only a fool would’ve tried it.”

“Or anyone who’s thirsty,” said Sirius. Tonks quickly turned to look at him curiously. “The potion’s supposed to closely resemble pumpkin juice,” he explained.

“Well, that’s it, then,” said Remus, jumping up from the chair and nearly shouting at Sirius. “We didn’t go downstairs until after the meeting, so it must have been at dinner. Molly probably saw the jug and thought it was the pumpkin juice, so she served it to all of us! You _idiot_!”

“All right, I’m sorry, Moony,” said Sirius, jumping up from his seat and getting out of the way as Remus’s hand tried to cuff him. “I didn’t know, all right? I’m sorry.”

“You do realize what this means, don’t you?” said Tonks. The two men turned to look at her. Remus’s face was bright red, and Sirius’s face was white. “All the others – everyone who was at dinner, that is – will have no hair, too.”

“Molly’ll kill me,” said Sirius. “If Moony doesn’t kill me first, that is,” he added, looking at Remus’s hand, which was still raised high in the air.

“Is there an antidote?” asked Tonks, before Remus had a chance to strike Sirius.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there is,” said Sirius. “Problem is, we don’t have enough ingredients left. The Noble and Most Ancient Potions Store Cupboard of Black has been all but cleaned out.”

“We’ll just have to get some ingredients, then,” said Tonks. “I’ll go to Diagon Alley right after breakfast – with Remus, if he’ll come.”

“Me?” said Remus.

“Yes, you,” said Tonks. “I can’t very well take Sirius, since he’s one of the Wizarding World’s most wanted. And you’re the only other bloke who’s left, now, aren’t you? Not to mention that you’re my boyfriend.”

Sirius gave Remus a funny look which resembled a sort of terrified smirk. “Can’t leave your girlfriend hanging, now, can you, Moony?”

“Fine, I’ll come,” said Remus. “Though, I’ll look rather funny out there with no hair, won’t I?”

“You won’t need a disguise,” said Tonks, smirking. “No one’ll have any idea that you’re really Remus Lupin, the infamous werewolf.”

“Thanks for that,” said Remus.

“You’re welcome,” said Tonks. “Now, what do you say to breakfast? Then, we’d better be off. Molly’ll be here as soon as she gets enough sense about her, and we don’t want to leave Sirius by himself for too long.”

“No, that might be a bit dangerous,” said Remus, smiling. “And breakfast sounds great.”

* * *

After breakfast, Remus and Tonks said good-bye to Sirius and left for Diagon Alley. It didn’t take all that long to find the ingredients they needed, as well as some extra ingredients for future usage, but they were waylaid by one of Tonks’s old friends from Hufflepuff. After spending several hours and eating a delicious meal with this friend, they decided that it was a good thing that Remus had lost his hair. Tonks was able to introduce him as her boyfriend without mentioning his real name or the Order of the Phoenix.

At last, they decided that they had better return to Number 12, Grimmauld Place before something happened to Sirius. They said good-bye to Tonks’s friend, gathered up their supplies, apparated to the front steps, and opened the door.

“Sirius Black! You open this door, or I’ll do it for you! I’m going to hex you past eternity! You open this door, right now!”

“ _Half-bloods, scum, bile, blood traitors! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers? Begone, vile scum!_ ”

The instant they opened the door, the sound of screams came from throughout the house. Sirius’s mother’s portrait was shouting her usual mantra, obviously awoken by the noise of Molly Weasley’s furious threats. A loud banging sound was coming from upstairs, as well.

“Sounds like Sirius’s barricaded himself in his room,” said Tonks over the noise.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” said Remus. “I, for one, would rather be locked in my room than face the wrath of Molly.”

Tonks laughed. “Perhaps you’d better go and see to him, then,” she said.

“That would be wise,” said Remus, nodding.

“I’ll go down to the kitchen and see if anyone else is here,” said Tonks. “I’ve got to set up the cauldron to make the antidote, anyway.”

“All right, I’ll meet you down there – with Molly and Sirius in one piece, if I can manage it.”

“Good luck with that,” said Tonks. And with that, Remus and Tonks hurried off in separate directions – Remus to the stairs heading up, and Tonks to the stairs heading down.

As she went down the stairs, the sounds from above began to fade, and Tonks could hear voices beginning to come up from below. It wasn’t long before the light found Tonks’s eyes and she could see who was sitting at the long table.

It was quite possibly the funniest scene that Tonks had ever seen.

A group of men was sitting at the table, and all of them were bald. Arthur was sitting next to Bill, who looked distraught. Fred and George were sitting at the end of the table, laughing and joking about their new hairstyles. On the other side of the table, Mad-Eye was talking to Kingsley (who happened to be the only person in the room who hadn’t actually been affected by the potion). And next to Kingsley, Severus Snape was seated, completely hairless and much more miserable looking than usual.

When she entered, nearly everyone in the room turned to look at her. She was used to having people staring at her brightly-colored hair, but she usually wasn’t surrounded by people who didn’t have any hair at all.

“Hello, Tonks!” called Fred from the end of the table.

“Looks as though you escaped the hairless curse,” said George.

“Lucky woman,” said Fred.

“It isn’t a curse,” said Tonks. “It was a potion. And no, I didn’t escape it, but I’m a Metamorphmagus, remember?”

The moment she mentioned that it had been a potion that caused their condition, Snape looked as though he had know it all along. “Was it, by any chance, a Hair-Raising potion?” he asked coolly.

“Yeah, it was,” said Tonks.

“And Black was the culprit, I presume,” said Snape. “Or, is he hiding up in his room for the sake of it?”

“Sirius didn’t mean to,” said Tonks, quickly jumping to Sirius’s defense. “He’s been affected, too.”

Snape didn’t respond. He didn’t seem to have heard Tonks’s last statement. A look of satisfaction came over his face.

“So, this was all Sirius’s fault?” asked Arthur.

“Yeah, I guess so,” said Tonks.

“Tonks, does this – does this have anything to do with the information I got from Remus yesterday?” Bill looked guiltier than Tonks had ever seen him.

Arthur looked over at Bill in surprise. “What do you mean, son?”

“I – I asked Remus yesterday if he would look up something about a Hair-Raising potion,” stammered Bill as quietly as he could. “Mum’s been threatening to cut my hair again – quite often, in fact – and well, I really like my hair the way it is, and I wanted a way to grow it back – you know, in case Mum actually tried to magic it off.” He paused, letting Arthur stare at him, dumbfounded. “I asked Remus if he could look it up for me because I didn’t want Mum to know. I hadn’t planned on making one unless there was some emergency.”

Everyone stared at Bill for a moment, and then, all of a sudden, several people burst out into laughter. Fred and George looked as though they had just found the best joke in history of the world. Arthur’s usually calm face was filled with laughter, making him resemble his twin sons. Everyone else in the room was laughing, too – everyone except Bill, of course, and Snape.

“That’s brilliant,” choked Fred over the laughter.

“Didn’t know you had it in you, Bill,” said George.

“You weren’t ever Head Boy, were you?” asked Fred.

Bill didn’t look amused. His face had turned nearly as red as his hair. He muttered something about “not much, really,” but no one heard him. Tonks, for one, was laughing harder than usual. When Remus hadn’t mentioned Bill before, it must not have hit her, because now it seemed very funny.

There was one person, however, who did not find it at all amusing – besides Bill, that is. Snape was sitting as still as ever, and the expression on his face had gone from satisfaction to loathing, once again.

“Excuse me, Nymphadora,” he said, cutting through the dying laughter. “Does Black have any way to undo this little trick of his? I seem to recall that there is an antidote, and that Black is halfway decent at potion-making.”

“Yeah,” said Tonks, trying to suppress the rest of her laughter. “Remus and I went out this morning for ingredients – there weren’t any left in the house. As soon as Remus gets down here with Sirius and Molly, I’ll start on the potion.”

“Oh, so that’s where he is,” said Fred, now grinning in a somewhat suggestive manner. He looked over at his twin.

“Right, Fred,” said George, catching on. “I was wondering where _dear_ Remus went off to.”

“After all, isn’t there a witch who fancies him?”

“I don’t know, Fred. Wouldn’t surprise me, though – he’s bloody handsome.”

Now it was Tonks’s face that began to turn pink. She didn’t really understand it, either. Usually, it didn’t bother her to have people talking about her relationship with Remus. But, usually, it wasn’t all about her fancying him, and she wasn’t usually the only witch in a room with all bald-headed wizards.

“How’s Molly doing?” she asked Arthur, trying to move the subject away from her and Remus. “How’s she taking all this?”

“Not well, I’m afraid,” said Arthur. “She nearly killed me this morning when she woke up with her hair gone. She’s been wearing a scarf and hat on her head all day today. She’s terrified that anyone will see her without her hair.”

“How’d you all know to come here?” asked Tonks.

“Isn’t it obvious, Nymphadora?” sneered Snape. “This was clearly Black’s handiwork – we all knew it.”

Tonks pretended not to hear him. She doubted that they all suspected Sirius. But, then again, who else was there to blame? And, after all, Sirius did tend to get himself into trouble a lot.

“Well, Arthur sent me an owl this morning – asked if I’d lost my hair, too,” said Mad-Eye.

“And Mad-Eye contacted me,” said Kingsley. “Obviously, nothing happened to me, but we concluded that it was only the people who had been at dinner who were affected.”

“Except for me,” said Snape.

“Yes, well, we guessed that Sirius meant to do that one,” said Bill, now back to his normal color. “Anyway, it was sort of a mass communication this morning – very hectic. I didn’t bother sending a letter to you – figured it wouldn’t affect you, since you’re a Metamorphmagus.”

“And you all decided to come here?”

“Well, it would have been impossible to stop Molly from coming, once she knew that we suspected Sirius was behind it,” said Arthur. “I thought it might be better if more than one of us had come – to make sure Sirius wasn’t killed.”

At that moment, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs leading up to the front hall. They all stopped speaking and turned to look over at the stairs. After a moment, Remus Lupin entered the room, followed by a very scared-looking Sirius Black and a very red, very angry Molly Weasley.

“Hello, everyone,” said Remus, as he and Sirius took in the strange view before them. “Good to see all of you.”

“Looks like you’ve got it, too, Lupin,” said Mad-Eye.

“Of course I have,” said Remus. “I was at dinner, wasn’t I?”

“I see that Molly hasn’t inflicted any – er – damage upon you, Black,” said Snape, a look of pure loathing etched on his face. “How wonderful that your friend was there to save you.” He looked from Sirius to Remus and back again, sneering.

Sirius, however, was not amused. Even the sight of Snape without hair wasn’t enough to boost his spirits. “Shut up, Snivellus,” he said quietly.

“I would be a bit more respectful if I were you, Black,” said Snape. “You are, after all, the culprit behind all of this.”

“It’s a damn good thing you’re not me, then, Snivellus,” said Sirius, coldly.

“Now, now, boys, let’s calm down, shall we?” said Arthur, sounding as though he were talking to his sons instead of two grown men. “We’ll get this sorted out right away.”

It was right then that Tonks remembered that there was still an antidote to be made. Quickly, she leapt up out of her chair – knocking one over as she went – and hurried over to Remus.

“Where’d you put the ingredients, Remus?” she asked.

Remus did not reply. Instead, he turned around so that he faced the stairs, pulled out his wand, gave it a little flick, and momentarily, a few bags of items came floating downstairs. He caught them out of the air as easily as if he had been holding them the entire time. Then, Tonks, Remus, and Sirius all headed toward the kitchen. Sirius and Tonks were going to make the antidote, while Remus was only along to carry the ingredients.

A little while later, they re-emerged from the kitchen carrying a small cauldron full of liquid. A cry of delight came from several of the people seated at the table, but it was impossible for Tonks to determine exactly who had cried out. She set the cauldron on the table, while Remus and Sirius carried a set of glasses. They set them out on the table, and Tonks began to put some of the potion into each.

They passed glasses to everyone except for Tonks and Kingsley (Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, so it didn’t matter whether she got the antidote, and Kingsley was bald, anyway).

“Drink up,” said Sirius, and they all did. For a moment, they all sat still, as though waiting for something to happen.

“If I read the book correctly, the antidote works at the same speed as the potion,” said Remus. “Which, if I am not mistaken, means that it will not be completed until very late this evening.”

As if directed to do so, Snape immediately slammed his glass back onto the table, stood up, and with a wave of his black robes, he vanished from sight. The other people around the table listened as they heard the door above them shut. Then, they all looked around at one another, as if taking in the view again.

Then, without warning, they all began to laugh. It was as though they had all been waiting for a chance to really laugh about the situation. It was a hearty, loud, and joyful laugh that filled the basement. Tonks nearly fell over as she continued to laugh. Remus noticed this and moved to stand beside her. She leaned on him, but found it difficult to stay in one place too long.

It was one of the few times that this many members of the Order of the Phoenix would laugh all together.

And, to think, it was all Sirius’s fault.

* * *

One day, several weeks later, Tonks and Remus were asked to go on a short mission for the Order. They apparated to a street in the heart of Muggle London, where some possible Death Eater supporters were rumored to have their hang-out spot. It was a very dark and muddy environment. Remus suggested that Tonks wear her natural, mousy brown hair so that they might fit in better.

But, when Tonks released her morph and let her hair fade back to normal, Remus let out a gasp. Tonks felt it, too, and reached her hand up to touch the spot where her hair should have been.

Apparently, she would need that antidote after all.


End file.
